Right Wing Religion

By Bob Bigham Raw Story (7/18/19) Multiple victims have come forward to accuse a New Jersey pastor of sexually assaulting them as part of exorcism rituals. “Three men have come forward claiming Rev. Dr. William Weaver performed sex acts on them when they came to him for private counseling at Linden Presbyterian Church,” Newsweek reportedThursday. “Weaver, 69, would allegedly tell the men that he needed to ‘suck’ out demons through their semen, citing Native American rituals and a verse from Ephesians telling Christians to ‘put on the full armor of God.’” “According to impact statements the men submitted to the Presbytery of…

“I love that they are going to write to Netflix to try and get #GoodOmens cancelled. Says it all really. This is so beautiful … Promise me you won’t tell them?” By Alison Ford The Guardian (6/20/19) More than 20,000 Christians have signed a petition calling for the cancellation of Good Omens, the television series adapted from Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s 1990 fantasy novel – unfortunately addressing their petition to Netflix when the series is made by Amazon Prime. The six-part series was released last month, starring David Tennant as the demon Crowley and Michael Sheen as the angel Aziraphale, who collaborate to…

The Commoner Call (6/20/19) Given the untoward influence far right evangelical and fundamentalist churches have on the republican party and public policy, it is important to expose the multiple hypocrisies to be found among many in the fundamentalist religious/political movement. Throughout all fascist governments far too many churches and clergy play important roles in defending, promoting, excusing, minimizing and sometimes even participating in government abuse. This is a pattern that is certainly seen with the Trump administration. The Commoner Call will be running an occasional feature of recent reports of fundamentalist religious abuses. As the collection of tawdry church news…

  “I think the whole cloak of secrecy with the Catholic Church needs to be exposed.” [Harris’s presidential campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Intercept.] By Lee Fang The Intercept (6/9/19) KAMALA HARRIS, SURROUNDED by thousands of cheering supporters, kicked off her presidential campaign in Oakland earlier this year, declaring that she has always fought “on behalf of survivors of sexual assault, a fight not just against predators but a fight against silence and stigma.” Fighting on behalf of victims of sexual abuse, particularly children, has been central to Harris’s political identity for the better part of three…

  Morning Edition / NPR (3/27/19) The founder and all-female editorial board of a women’s magazine for the Vatican have quit. They say they were being delegitimized. Link to 3-Minute Video ***** The Revolt At The Vatican Shows How The Church Stubbornly Fails Women ‘We are throwing in the towel because we feel surrounded by an atmosphere of distrust and progressive delegitimisation.’ By Tina Beattie The Guardian (3/27/19) he editor of the Vatican women’s magazine, Lucetta Scaraffia, has announced that she and her all-female editorial team are to suspend its publication. In a letter to Pope Francis, which she has also made…

  When it comes to religion, the Court’s direction is clear—and Trump’s core supporters have every reason to be pleased with it. By Jeffery Toobin The New Yorker (3/6/19) Donald Trump may be imperilled by the ever-growing number of investigations into various avenues of his conduct, but his agenda continues apace at the Supreme Court. There, the President’s appointees and their allies are making quiet progress on another key goal of his political base: transforming the place of religion in American life. The changes involve both religion clauses of the First Amendment—the one that prohibits the “establishment” of a state…

We should thank Omar, the freshman lawmaker, for having the guts to raise this contentious issue. By Mehdi Hasan The Intercept (2/12/19) In 2005,  Steven Rosen, then a senior official with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, sat down for dinner with journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, then of the New Yorker. “You see this napkin?” Rosen asked Goldberg. “In twenty-four hours, [AIPAC] could have the signatures of seventy senators on this napkin.” I couldn’t help but be reminded of this anecdote after Rep. Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, was slammed by Democrats and Republicans alike over her suggestion, in a pair of tweets, that U.S….

  Thom Hartmann Program (8/29/18) Michael D’Antonio, author of The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence sits down with Thom Hartmann to discuss efforts by the vice president and his allies to make Mike Pence the 46th President of the Unite States. Do you think Vice President Mike Pence is going to make a presidential run? Link to 10-Minute Video (Illustration by Seth L. Taylor, 2017)

“The same victim also testified that the ring of priests groomed their victims with gifts. The priests would mark their “favorite boys” with gold cross necklaces.” By Carol Kuruvilla The HuffPo (8/15/18) For decades, stories about clerical sexual abuse committed by Pennsylvania Catholic priests were reportedly locked away in the church’s secret archives. These old secrets exploded into the light Tuesday with the publication of a grand jury report into six of Pennsylvania’s eight Roman Catholic dioceses. The jurors’ 884-page report allowed Pennsylvania Catholics to finally grasp the extent of the abuse ― and cover-up ― in six dioceses: Allentown, Erie,…

Facing 30 sexual misconduct accusations. [Editor’s Note: This story came out last fall, but it is always good to be reminded of the rank hypocrisy of so many of those on the right who profit off moralistically judging others. — Mark L. Taylor] By Tom Embury-Dennis The Independent (11/22/17) An anti-LGBT Republican politician who was allegedly caught having sex with a man in his office is facing more than 30 accusations of sexual misconduct. Wes Goodman, a state legislator for Ohio, has already been forced to resign after a witness to the reported extramarital affair told the Ohio House Chief of Staff. Mr Goodman, whose…

  By Michael Curry The Guardian (6/23/18) The screams of children being taken from their mothers and fathers at our border, under our flag, haunts the nation. Across political and religious divides, the nation – and the world – is aghast and Americans are refusing complicity in all the ways they can. Millions of people are crying, protesting and praying in our houses of worship and in the public square. In a moment of national shame, huge swaths of people are acting in love. The families making treacherous and often dangerous journeys to seek refuge in the US are desperate….

“Last week in Dallas, the Southern Baptists held their annual convention, and they invited Mike Spence to speak. This is nothing new for evangelical groups. Both President Obama, and President George W Bush spoke before such gatherings during their terms. But, when speaking to these kinds of gatherings, politicians, and especially high level elected politicians tend to minimize any political references, focusing instead on their own faith, what it has meant to their lives, and how it guides them in their governing. “Not Mike Pence, the black hole of sycophants. Pence is well known as the worst kind of evangelical,…

***** How evangelicals, once culturally confident, became an anxious minority seeking political protection from the least traditionally religious president in living memory. By Michael Gerson The Atlantic (April 2018) One of the most extraordinary things about our current politics—really, one of the most extraordinary developments of recent political history—is the loyal adherence of religious conservatives to Donald Trump. The president won four-fifths of the votes of white evangelical Christians. This was a higher level of support than either Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, an outspoken evangelical himself, ever received. Trump’s background and beliefs could hardly be more incompatible with traditional Christian models…

  Heart & Soul/BBC (2/23/18) Libby Phelps is the granddaughter of the founder of Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps. Nicknamed “America’s Most Hated Family”, the church in Kansas became infamous for telling homosexuals they were going to hell and picketing the funerals of US soldiers. But it was after the church rejoiced in the attacks of 11 September, that Libby questioned her faith, packed her bags and left – she escaped from the church. Today she now advocates for the LGBT community, the people she once condemned to hell. As a young girl Libby would attend school and play with her…

  (Editor’s Note: This is a superb profile and background history on who could well be the next president of the United States. One aspect that is not dealt with in detail is Pence’s extremist Christian Dominionist ideology – basically, an American version of rigid Taliban-like Christian fundamentalist orthodoxy. – Mark L. Taylor) By Jane Mayer The New Yorker (10/23/17) On September 14th, the right-wing pundit Ann Coulter, who last year published a book titled “In Trump We Trust,” expressed what a growing number of Americans, including conservatives, have been feeling since the 2016 election. The previous day, President Trump had dined with…

  By Mobeen Azhar BBC (7/14/17) In March 2017, a High Court Judge in Pakistan made the dramatic declaration that “blasphemers are terrorists.” The declaration is just one part of a growing national campaign to make disbelief socially, publicly and morally not just unacceptable, but one that allows Pakistani people the right to attack those who doubt the importance of Islam. Websites offer a satirical take on Islam and challenge the notion that Pakistan is an Islamic Republic, but the government replied with adverts in national newspapers and text messages to all Pakistanis, urging them to report those who express their online…